Overview

• I’ve always been passionate about how people discover and interact with music. SoundCloud is one of the biggest platforms for independent artists and music listeners, and I have noticed its decline over the past years. So I set out to download the app back to notice something frustrating:

  • New users struggled to navigate the app.

  • Basic actions—like creating playlists or sharing music—were harder than expected.

  • The UI felt cluttered, making engagement feel like a chore.

Goal

The study aims to analyze and assess SoundCloud’s user experience - whether users can simply navigate SoundCloud and use the features provided effectively. This usability study aims to not only utilize subjective measures to collect users’ opinions, feedback, and recommendations regarding various aspects of SoundCloud but also to measure the user’s performance and behavior, to help us learn more about the context in which users' experience these pain points and to identify areas that need improvement.

Role

Prototype Development; User Research & Testing; Data Analysis & Design Recommendations

Tools

Figma, Miro, Word

Team

Aries Chu, Jessen Lin

Timeline

March - May 2023 (8weeks)

Persona

Use Case Example:

A young teenager has recently been looking for new underground music that aligns with their taste. With a desire for songs that are not very popular, the listener explores and discovers new artists and genres through Soundcloud and finds music similar to their favorite artist. 

Data Sheet

We constructed a task analysis, and with the task analysis, constructed a data sheet to collect data on each task. Each participant had 6 major tasks, divided into minor tasks.

Participant Recruitment

We plan to recruit a total of 16 participants, 4 in each subgroup.

• Listener/user

  • Individuals who use the SoundCloud app regularly ( > 3 days a week) to listen to music

• Listener/non-user

  • Individuals who have never used the SoundCloud app to listen to music, but may use other music streaming services

• Artist/user

  • Individuals who create and upload music to SoundCloud

• Artist/non-user

  • Individuals who do not upload their music to SoundCloud, but may upload it on other platforms

Enhancing the "Add to Queue" Feedback Experience

• Improve visual feedback to clearly indicate when a song is added to the queue.

• Increase color contrast for better visibility and accessibility.

• Position the confirmation message higher on the screen or enlarge it for better prominence.

Improving Queue Visibility ("Next Up")

• Add the text "Next Up" below or beside the playlist icon for clearer navigation.

• Include an option to view "Next Up" directly from the Library screen for easier access.

Enhancing Music Sharing for Better Usability

• Use familiar icons across iOS platforms to align with users' mental models for messaging and sharing.

• Address user confusion by clarifying the difference between the "Message" button and music-sharing functionality.

• Relocate the SMS option to a more prominent position, ensuring it’s not hidden as the last sharing choice.

• Prioritize the Message button among the first options to better reflect the hierarchy of importance.

Improving Messaging Consistency

• Add the text "Message" next to the message icon to align with the Follow button for a more consistent UI.

Enhancing Podcast Visibility

• Add a Podcasts section on the Home screen for easier discovery.

• Include Podcasts as a category in the Search screen to improve accessibility and navigation.

Simplifying the UI for a Better Experience

• Reduce the number of action buttons in the header for a cleaner interface.

• Move Settings and My Profile to the Home screen header for quick access.

• Limit the number of recommendations on the Home screen to avoid clutter.

• Streamline the menu for easier navigation.

• Place the Sign Out button in the first layer of settings for better accessibility.

Learnings & Insights

• Throughout this project, one of the biggest challenges encountered was collecting user data. Originally, we decided on four types of user groups. However, because of funds, we had to change the test, which only enabled us to collect two types of data groups. 

• Some might say is this a failure of a usability test? I would say no. Although this is not a whole representation of SoundCloud, it does provide great insight for the listener's application of SoundCloud. Through this project, we can understand the major issues of SoundCloud, and these can be easily changed.

• Learned:

  • Familiarity matters. Users expect features to work like they do in other apps—they don’t want to relearn the basics.

  • Clear feedback is essential. If users don’t know their action succeeded, they feel frustrated.

  • Testing with different user groups is crucial. Originally, I planned for four user groups, but funding constraints forced us to test with only two. This reinforced the importance of prioritizing diverse user needs within project constraints.

• The next step would be to implement the design recommendations into the application. Make sure to always validate design assumptions with real user data instead of relying on intuition. Prioritizing critical usability issues over minor aesthetic tweaks ensures that improvements have the greatest impact.